I am in the process of helping a friend set up her property where our small herd will be living. For our ease, we are going to be using square bales, and will also be feeding free choice, but want a feeder set up to keep hay out of the mud and reduce waste. I found these which look perfect, but a bit more expensive than what I was hoping.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/equine-hay-basket
We will have an atv, but not a tractor, so ease of loading is a priority. Any recommendations?
I’ve used a large wood box and a plastic tank for feeding hay off the ground. Almost anything will work that allows rain water to drain and dust to drop out.
I use horse friendly ring feeders b/c they are easy to move, setting squares on two stacked pallets inside the ring. All of it is easy to relocate.
I have been using the Hay Baskets for 3 years and LOVE them. The horses can fling the hay around and rarely toss it out. They are super easy to move around. You DO have to dump them occasionally, or if you have quidders like me, twice daily. The grooves hold chaff and quids, but the basket is super simple to flip over and dump. I love that the basket keeps the hay up off the ground, but the horses are still eating in the “head down” position. No more muddy dirty hay.
I do not know where you are located, but I purchased my baskets for $250 each in St. Mary’s County, MD. Way cheaper than the TSC link you provided.
Would something like this work:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/texas-haynet-square-bale-net-txhnsb06?cm_vc=-10005
There’s an even cheaper version, but it has mediocre reviews:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/weaver-leather-slow-feed-hay-bale-net
I feed off the ground, in their stalls - horses have free access from pasture 24/7.
Something like #1 would probably save me a lot of waste & time if hung in a stall.
for my 3, I go through a 50# small square every couple of days.
posted this before but we just got a water tank and put in a wagon… hay is just put in the trough…if rain is coming it just wheeled into the barn
cheap, reasonable, re-usable … I mention cheap as we already had these things
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A friend of mine had a genius idea…baby cribs!!! She got one and elevated it. She covered the top with a screen or something to keep horses from pulling large globs out of the top. look at all the second hand places you can 
That hay basket with a Hay Chix slow feeder net is what I would recommend. I have considered doing that myself. I use Porta Grazers but they slow feed net would slow the horses down a bit more. Also, when it rains the Porta Grazers are a pain to clean out.
This is what we use even though it is for round bales, we use them for large square bales. I’ve also put small squares in them as well. https://slowfeeder.com/collections/hay-rings
I have the hay basket you posted. Worth every penny!! I delayed buying it because it seemed a little pricey for something so simple. I love it! Keeps hay out of mud/dirt yet horses still eat head down. Mine like the yummy bits on the bottom and do toss it out sometimes. I have 2 small bale Hay Chix nets that I use sometimes but if I’m in a hurry I just throw it in loose. (carabiner secured on one side and tied around the opposite) Even without the nets, much less waste than without the feeder. I am considering buying the round bale net to keep in the feeder. Zip tying it to the net would be the easiest method. I will say that every 1-2 weeks (depends on rain/weather) I need to fully clean out the basket as the chaff etc builds up on the bottom. I just put on a rubber glove and pull it out by hand. Easier to do alone than flipping the basket out. It’s light but awkward so still need two people for that chore. Also easy enough to move around by myself, again a little awkward but doable. I may also drill a few extra drainage holes in the bottom. They can get stopped up easily.
The ONLY down side I noted this summer was that if I wasn’t religious about putting on fly boots or keeping legs well sprayed my horses would stomp flies and hit the metal tube on the bottom. Both horses superficially chipped their front hooves, easily rasped away but it bothered me. Now that the weather is cooling down there is no issue.
Google “diy wood hay racks” and for $100 in materials, you can build one that is specific to your needs.
We also LOVE ours. We did drill additional (larger than a quarter size) holes in the bottom, as it does get build-up of wet hay there due to not enough drainage. No issues since!
We also bought the PVC ring that attaches to the Tartar feeder, that swings open (like an oyster) on a hinge. The slow feeder net is attached to this. Essentially, we just unlatch and open the ring/net, throw a 4-5 bales in, close the pvc ring and secure again. No messing with bales in individual slow feeder nets, etc. TOTALLY worth every penny!!! I’ll see if I can find a link to it…
I also have the hay basket and it works great! Don’t buy it from TSC, their price is greatly inflated. I bought mine from my local mill for $300. Check around at your local mill or anyplace that sells gates, etc. and I’ll bet you can find it cheaper.
@Senszuri Interested in that link if you can find it! I am on the fence trying one of these but would like to add a net, and if there is already a system in place for this all the better!
I am torn on getting the baskets or the large V feeders with a pan underneath.
I like the V feeders because you can feed the grain in the pan, but they are more money than the baskets. I would have to buy two baskets probably for every V feeder. I really want the diller hay saver for my big field but it’s so so expensive.
I use plastic collapsible bulk containers. They come in all different sizes. I bought mine used for $50 each on FB marketplace. The ones I have even have a grated bottom to allow any water to pass through.
I have one for each horse since two of mine are assholes and don’t share well with others. I also hang fence feeders on the side to feed grain.
I second this. I save a HUGE amount of hay ($$$) with this combination.
Here’s the link to a video from HayChix using their 4x4 net to slow-feed out of the hay basket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxv3cUkNCuM
This is what we are doing. We are just setting this up now, so I can’t say how well it works, but it looks awesome. We set ours up outside of the run-in shed, but can easily move it inside under cover for inclement weather. Hope this helps.
Check out Porta-Grazers. My horses and I love them.
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